Analysts say that the stage appears to be set for a massive fiscal stimulus package from the incoming Obama administration, with the economic crisis deepening dramatically in the US in November. Labor Department reported Friday that during the month, US companies slashed 533,000 jobs from their payrolls - the largest monthly drop since December 1974.

The 'job-loss' report from the Labor Department came as businesses pressed Washington to do more to alleviate the financial meltdown that has clearly spread beyond Wall Street to Main Street.

Following payroll cuts of 403,000 jobs in September and 320,000 jobs in October, the economy has now shed 1.26 million jobs during the past three months. The unemployment rate jumped from 6.5 percent to 6.7 percent, making it the highest jobless rate in more than fifteen years. Goldman Sachs predicts unemployment will hit 9 percent by the end of next year.

According to Bernard Baumohl, chief global economist at the Economic Outlook Group, "It is clear this economy is now deteriorating with frightening speed and ferocity. The numbers are truly horrific."

The bursting of the housing bubble has resulted in millions of mortgage defaults, which generated more than $650 billion in losses so far for commercial and investment banks. Housing prices continue to fall at an accelerating rate, jeopardizing more mortgages and resulting in more foreclosures and greater losses for banks and investors

Getting in a position to act quickly once he is in office, President-elect Barack Obama cautioned in a statement Friday that "there are no quick or easy fixes to this crisis, which has been many years in the making, and it's likely to get worse."